Santiago de Chile West of Andes Mountains

This orthorectified image shows the eastern part of Santiago, the capital city of Chile. The city lies in the center of the Santiago Basin, a large bowl-shaped valley consisting of a broad and fertile lands surrounded by mountains. The city has a varying elevation, with 400 m (1,312 ft) in the western areas and 540 m (1,772 ft) in the Plaza Baquedano.

It is flanked by the main chain of the Andes on the east and the Chilean Coastal Range on the west. On the north, it is bounded by the Cordón de Chacabuco, a mountain range of the Andes. During recent decades, urban growth has expanded the boundaries of the city to the east closer to the Andean Precordillera, as can be observed here. To the east stands the massive Ramon Sierra, a mountain chain formed in the foothills of the Precordillera due to the action of the fault Ramon, reaching 3296 metres at the Cerro de Ramon. 20 km further east is the Cordillera of the Andes with its mountain ranges and volcanoes, many of which exceed 6,000 m (19,685.04 ft) and in which some glaciers are maintained.